Various shapes and types of housings have been used in the automotive and other industries for as long as such industries have existed. These housings have been typically formed from castings when structural performance is required or formed from steel plates or sheets using a stamping process. However, both of the methods of forming housings have known drawbacks.
Where a housing is formed by casting, the method results in excessive mass and typically an imbalance in the component in which the housing is implemented and has resulted in quality problems. Further, cast housings are slow to manufacture due to cooling requirements in a casting dye, which is also known to increase the cost of manufacturing.
Where the housing is formed by stamping a metal sheet or plate, expensive, significantly complex dyes are typically required to form the necessary contours of the housing and the stamping process results in a significant loss of material and the resultant housing typically has poor structural integrity. A progressive stamping method can require up to sixteen stages and post-working operations to achieve the necessary housing configuration.
Thus, there has been a long felt need for an improved method of forming industrial housings which overcomes the above referenced disadvantages and the method of forming an industrial housing from a tube of this invention overcomes these disadvantages.